Huawei opened a cybersecurity centre in Brussels, as it seeks to placate European authorities and quash security concerns around use of its equipment.

In a statement, Huawei said the Cyber Security Transparency Centre offered government agencies, technical experts, industry associations and standards bodies a platform to “communicate and collaborate to balance out security and development in the digital era.”

The under-fire vendor noted the facility had three aims: to showcase Huawei’s end-to-end cybersecurity practices; enable conversations between the company and stakeholders; and provide testing and verification facilities.

At an opening ceremony, the vendor’s deputy chairman Ken Hu (pictured) said: “Trust needs to be based on facts, facts must be verifiable, and verification must be based on common standards. We believe that this is an effective model to build trust for the digital era.”

“We fully understand cybersecurity concerns that people have in this digital world. I believe that good solutions to solve the issue start from mutual understanding, which is the purpose we set up the transparency centre here today.”

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In a tweet, European Commissioner for digital single market Andrus Ansip said he had met with Hu and agreed: “Understanding local security concerns, being open and transparent, and cooperating with countries and regulators would be preconditions for increasing trust in the context of 5G security.”

The opening of the centre follows a period of intense scrutiny of the company by authorities in a number of countries, with several European countries said to be considering limiting or banning the vendor from supplying 5G equipment.

At last week’s MWC19 Barcelona, European Commissioner for digital economy and society Mariya Gabriel promised a swift resolution to the issue.

Pressure in Europe comes as tensions between the company and the US escalate, with Huawei rumoured to be poised to launch legal action against a ban in the country.